REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM STUBBLEFIELD CONFIRMED BY SENATE AS
DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF NOAA CORPS OPERATIONS

The U.S. Senate confirmed Rear Admiral William L.
Stubblefield on May 16 as director of the Office of NOAA Corps
Operations, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration announced. Stubblefield officially
assumed his new position today upon the reading of his orders
during a ceremony led by NOAA Administrator D. James Baker.

The NOAA Corps, the nation's seventh uniformed service,
manages NOAA's fleet of research and survey ships, research and
mapping aircraft, diving operations and commissioned personnel in
support of NOAA's overall mission of mapping and charting,
oceanographic and meteorological research, and fisheries
management.

Before taking over the top position today, Stubblefield
served as deputy director of the Office of NOAA Corps Operations.
His leadership and experience embraces the broad spectrum of
NOAA's activities. He has served as executive director of the
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; special assistant to
NOAA's chief scientist, where he conducted a community-wide
effort to assess the next generation of NOAA's research ships;
commanding officer of the NOAA ship Surveyor; chief
scientist for NOAA's Undersea Research Program; program monitor
within the Office of Sea Grant; deputy director for the Marine
Geology and Geophysics Laboratory at the Atlantic Oceanographic
and Meteorological Laboratory; research oceanographer in coastal
processes at AOML; and duties on several NOAA and Navy ships.

Stubblefield received a doctorate from Texas A&M University
in geological oceanography, a master's degree from the University
of Iowa, and a bachelor's from Memphis State University (now
called the University of Memphis). He is a son of George A.
Parrish and the late Jessie R. Parrish of Medina, Tenn.,p.

He lives in Potomac, Md., with his wife Bonnie McGregor
Stubblefield, who is the associate director of the Interior
Department's U.S. Geological Survey.